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Andrew I of New Britannia
Andrew I "The Unifier" of New Britannia was the first Monarch of New Britannia and its first King in that capacity. Originally the heir to the Dukedom of Arevad in the colony of New Britannia, Andrew would be sent to Kandaria (the capital of the Britannian Empire) by his father, David de Arevin, Duke of Arevad, to study philosophy, military tactics and gain political knowledge in his early teens in order to prepare him for his future role in the Dukedom. In his early 20s, he would return to New Britannia and Arevad and would find it to be in a state of rebellion against Britannian rule as a result of high taxation, lack of representation and mismanagement of their affairs. His father, a staunch Britannian loyalist, worked actively to suppress the revolt, which was most fervent in Arevad, the most populous city in New Britannia. Andrew, sensing the impending overthrow of his father and family, reportedly bludgeoned his father to death with a mace and assumed leadership of the Dukedom. Acting pragmatically, he lessened the response against the rebellion and began making overture, if not outright declarations, in its support. As a result of this and the murder of his father, the Britannian Empire declared his assumption of power illegal and ordered his arrest. When the magistrate made this declaration, he was lynched by the rebelling crowd and Andrew was declared by the people to be the hero and protector of Arevad. Andrew, in turn, declared Arevad's independence from the Britannian Empire. Following this declaration, Andrew managed to secure the support of several disgruntled New Britannian rulers as well as all of his immediate neighbors. Upon doing so, Andrew formed a multilateral organization with his allies and assumed its leadership, forming the nucleus for the future Kingdom of New Britannia. Still facing resistance in the northern areas of settled New Britannia, Andrew's forces would caught in a long stalemate with their opponents, only being spared defeat by the lack of Britannian reinforcements as a result of their Empire's protracted wars against neighboring barbarians at home. Andrew, seeking to end the stalemate, worked to systematically overthrow two leading loyalist nobles and then divided their lands up between his own supporters and turned their capitals into cities directly managed by him, forming the the beginnings of the future notion of Free Cities within New Britannia. Upon so, several loyalist nobles agreed to capitulate and support the rebel cause in exchange for the maintenance of their realms and a small payoff. This coincided with the departure of a Britannian Armada to suppress the revolt. By poor luck, Armada would be crippled by a maelstrom midway through its journey to New Britannia. On its arrival, its leader, a Britannian Prince known only to history as Clovis, marched on Arevad with the entirety of his remaining forces. As Andrew's forces were concentrated on the frontlines, it did not appear that Arevad would have enough troops to hold out. However, in the Battle of Arevad, in what some historians portray as a display of great skill or perhaps merely great luck, Andrew annihilated the Britannian Forces, if with heavy casualties. Capturing Edmund, Andrew bargained to the shocked and strained Britannian Empire for a recognition of New Britannia's independence under his rule in exchange for peace and the return of the prince. Reluctantly it was granted by the Britannian Empire and within days of the news reaching him, Andrew had secured the unanimous support of the nobility and the widespread approval of the people as he assumed the title of King of New Britannia and Grand Duke of Arevad. His first task as King would be the rebuilding of his nation's infrastructure, which he set out with with great haste. He worked to build more advanced road systems, rebuild the ruins in the cities and reinforce key locations. He also encouraged settlement of lands further away from the coasts of New Britannia's eastern seaboard. Additionally, he created a militia system in order to help train and arm as many of his trustworthy citizenry as possible whilst concurrently undermining the nobles that had only joined him out of desperation to ensure their weakness in case of their disloyalty. Whilst Britannian would not invade again during his lifetime, Andrew remained paranoid of their ambitions to reclaim his Kingdom. As a result of this, he worked to render his state as unitary as possible, fearing a more decentralized institution would spell his and his nation's doom. Andrew would remain relatively popular until the end of his reign. However, in 24 1EBC, Andrew would be assassinated by agents of the Britannian Empire. Upon his death, New Britannia initially appeared to be at risk of fragmenting, however, his previously insignificant brother managed to secure enough support to assumed the throne of New Britannia, if tenuously. Andrew would be buried in a unknown location in order to ensure that the Britannians would never be able to take out their anger on his corpse. He is today considered one of New Britannia's greatest monarchs and is a figure of great debate. Category:Cannon